Richard Epstein on Net Neutrality

The D.C. circuit's ruling in Verizon v. FCC is the topic of libertarian law professor Richard Epstein's column this week for the Hoover Institution's Web site:

This unfolding spectacle is in itself a strong condemnation of the entire system of telecom regulation, which leaves too much space for destructive political manipulation. One advantage of a strong system of property rights is that the state's role is limited to enforcing the exclusivity of the property rights, so that millions of dollars are not wasted in trying to shift ceaselessly from one regime to another. ...Of course, the entire regulatory process is fraught with abuses that in individual cases could leave the established rates either too high or too low. It follows therefore that with the first whiff of competition a strong case arises for dispensing with the rate regulation process altogether. In the short run, this might lead to higher rates, but, in the long-run, innovation from new entrants will tend to drive rates down to a competitive level that is likely unattainable under sclerotic rate regulation systems.